Shaken
by crazykittymomma
Summary: One-shot, Modern. If you've read "Morals" you'd most likely understand this best. Hiccup helps Astrid after a scare she had at work.


**This was inspired after I went through my recertification class for my guard training last weekend. As some of you may know, I am taking "Morals" and trying to escalate the detail and creativity I placed into my fanfiction piece on the side. So, in doing so, I am incorporating more characteristics of high school drama, along with sports related activities, part-time jobs, etc. **

**So, for those of you who have read morals, think of this one-shot as an extra chapter in the story. I've been told multiple times "Write what you know." So, here I am writing what I know. **

**...**

A small pound had started behind Hiccup's left eye hours ago. And, it had continued to get worse. Most likely because he'd been staring at the screen of his laptop for a few hours proof reading his essay.

"I can't believe I fell this far behind!" he groaned to himself, allowing his shoulders and back to stretch. He heard his shoulders pop a few times. He'd obviously been sitting at the kitchen table too long.

Glancing at his watch, it was well after seven. This prompted an involuntary rush of urgency. Astrid would be over soon so that he could check her Trig homework that was due tomorrow. He'd wanted to have something ready for her to grab and eat after a long day. And, so she wasn't sitting in an awkward silence while he was hunched over her math homework.

Forcing himself to stand up, feeling the stiffness in not only his leg but his hips and shoulders, he forced himself to cross the kitchen and head towards the fridge. The light blinded him when he opened the door. It had just occurred to him that he'd been working in the dark kitchen since the sun had set nearly an hour ago. That wasn't going to help his headache in the slightest.

As Hiccup moved, his body loosened up, and he welcomed it. Deciding he would make her a hot ham and cheese sandwiched, he knifed butter over the bread, and allowed it to sizzle on the hot surface of the pan until it was golden brown. He knew she didn't like her bread too crispy. In fact, she preferred it lightly browned more than he did. He liked that slight dry crunch when he bit into his sandwich.

Glancing at his watch again, he decided he'd make his sandwich first. Just in case she was running a little behind like she occasionally did. Escaping the front room of the facility was a struggle sometimes. Tonya, the night manager, often liked to stop Astrid and ask her how school was going, how she did in her swim competition, how her father was...small talk conversations. And, Astrid had a hard time slipping away simply because she didn't want to be rude. Hiccup was convinced the single mom just needed someone to talk to here and there.

And Astrid was always willing to chat for a few minutes.

Both sandwiches were finished. And, both starting to go cold. Astrid hadn't shown up to the house. She couldn't have been running this far behind, could she?

"Lessons were over at 7...She usually showered...It's almost 8 now..." Did Tonya keep her longer than usual for some reason?

Taking a seat back at the table, he pushed the down arrow button to skim through another bit of his paper. Finding a run-on sentence he'd typed earlier in the day, and had made a mental note to correct, he not only edited it, but the whole paragraph. It just didn't sound right at all.

Eight-fifteen. Where was she?

He picked up his cell phone, something he hadn't looked at for hours. This was typical, but for a second he worried he should have turned the ringer on at the very least just in case.

"What if she was in a car accident?" he suddenly thought to himself. Panic stricken, remembering what had happened just a month and a half prior.

She was a good driver...why was he so concerned? Probably another idiot driver like Snotlout hitting her again. That was why.

No messages from her, and no call. Perhaps she was held up.

The sandwiches could be reheated. That wasn't an issue. He knew she would understand why they needed to be, and she'd just appreciate the thought he had. Knowing this made him smile slightly. She was so appreciative when he did these things for her. Not having to worry about going home this late at night and eating so late was a relief in it's own for her.

Eight-thirty came, and this was when he decided he needed to call her to check in.

Or, would she think he was smothering her? Perhaps, he should wait longer...

Standing up again, he went to the bathroom and pulled a Tylonal from the medicine cabinet, swallowed it whole (his father would cringe) and headed back down the hallway towards the kitchen again. Except, he turned to the front door, realizing he'd neglected to turn the outside light on for when Astrid did arrive.

Just as he flicked the switch, he glanced outside the window of the door, realizing she was pulling up in front of the house. Relief came to him. She wasn't in a car scared, waiting on an ambulance to arrive. She was here. Heck, if she had even decided to go home instead, and let him look over her homework the next morning before school started, that would have been fine. But, this was their excuse to see each other. Her "little detour" on her way home from work...

Their parents didn't seem to mind this. Lately, since Astrid had started up track again, they hadn't gotten to see much of each other other than in school. Their relationship was still new, so little ways of seeing each other even for a few minutes seemed to help. He'd made a mental note to take her out to the movies sometimes that weekend, perhaps dinner as well.

He pulled the door open to let her know that she didn't have to knock, and stood at the screen door waiting. There, he'd open the door for her, plant a gentle kiss on her forehead, and usher her to sit at the table while he reheated their dinner, and looked over her math homework.

He watched her shadow rush out of the car and grab her bag from the back seat. As she approached the house, he realized she was in nothing but her once piece purple and yellow team suite, and a pair of shorts, and Nike sandals.

"Astrid-" he breathed, pushing the screen door open for her to let her inside. Her appearance seemed-rare. She also didn't smell like her coconut conditioner. She smelled exactly like chlorine. She looked like she had just crawled out of the pool.

"Hi," she breathed, forcing a smile as she walked past him and into the house. "Sorry I'm late-"

"No problem," Hiccup replied. "Uh-Astrid-"

She seemed to be ignoring him. She walked through towards the kitchen, where she sat her back pack down on the chair Hiccup had been sitting at. She immediately began rooting through her books, finally pulling out her math book with notebook paper tucked inside the pages.

"I can't stay long," she breathed. "I-I just need help with-like-four problems-"

Hiccup's hand touched her shoulder as he reached for the math book, taking it from her hands.

"Astrid, why don't you sit down?" he said. "Let me look this over-"

He tilted his head, trying to get her to meet his own eyes-but she didn't. This was very unlike her. She knew he liked to keep eye contact with whomever he was talking to.

"Oh-okay," she said.

She took a seat, and he crossed the kitchen to heat up her sandwich, eyeballing the paper in his hand. Astrid wasn't the greatest at math, at least to her standards. Although she'd made it to Trig, she was struggling to keep her A in the class. When she'd asked him to help her keep her grade up a few weeks ago, he was more than happy to. He liked helping her. Gave him a sense of confidence. Here she was, so perfect, beautiful and kind. And she'd asked him to help her.

Word had gotten out around the school that they were seeing each other. And, he'd been approached by a few of his male peers. He'd been told that she'd break his heart within a month. Or, what did she see in him? He'd felt so weak and tiny since his accident. He'd lost a lot of confidence since his fall. Pushed people out of his life due to his depression. Thanks to Astrid, he was getting his spirit back. Helping her with her math gave him a sense of feeling needed, and appreciated.

He heated up her sandwich and walked over to her and placed the plate down at her place setting. Although, when he did so, he noticed she seemed dazed, and lost in thought. She was biting the end of her thumb nail, and staring at nothing in particular.

"Astrid-"

She blinked, and startled, and turned her face to him.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Yeah-yeah,"s he breathed, blinking several times again. "Sorry-long day-"

"I made you a sandwich earlier," he replied. "Do you want water or tea to drink?"

She bit the inside of her cheek. "Sorry-I-I can't stay long-"

"I know-but it's late, and you should eat something-"

"Hiccup-I really need to get home-"

It was then that he noticed her shaking, her blood shot eyes, and a sense of worry or fear.

"Astrid, what's wrong?" he asked her. He could feel the worry building up in his shoulders as he tensed up. The headache he had behind his eye seemed to be more noticed than it had been suddenly. Tension was rising inside his own body.

"Nothing-nothing-" she waved a hand at him. She reached for her book. "Problem 23, did I do it right?"

She flopped the book onto the table, and turned a page or two, then pointed to the problem. "This one-"

Hunched over the table, Hiccup looked at the problem. Then, looked over Astrid's process. He couldn't concentrate on it. His eyes kept darting over to Astrid, who was shaking.

"Astrid-can I get you a hoodie or something?" he asked.

She looked down at herself, panic showing on her face. "Oh, no I have one in my bag-" She reached into it and pulled it out. She didn't completely pull it over her head, however. She only pulled her arms into the sleeves, and stopped halfway through. It was as though she'd lost her energy. Except, again her train of thought seemed to go on pause again.

Hiccup watched her for a moment, then reached for her hand, but she jumped and pulled away. This was scaring him.

"Astrid, is something wrong?"

"No!" she said immediately.

"Why are you so jumpy?" Hiccup asked her.

"Jumpy?" Her eyes met his, and he could tell she was holding back some tears.

"Yes, jumpy," he said to her, then abandoning her homework. He reached for her hand again, and she grabbed his and squeezed it. And hard. Suddenly, she was on her feet and in his arms, sobbing into his shoulder. She'd crumbled.

He found himself having difficulty balancing her weight and his own on his leg. A small painful twinge erupted through his leg, and he shifted his weight to avoid the pain, holding her as she sobbed hard into his neck. Her skin felt cool to the touch, other than the heat coming from her cheeks.

"Astrid-" He shifted on his feet again, this time guiding her over to the couch. She walked with him, trying to control her sobbing.

"I'm sorry-I'm-"

"It's all right," he said to her, helping her sit down. He pulled Katherine's crochet blanket from the back of the couch and over her shoulders, letting it swallow her. Sitting down beside her, he didn't know what to do. Yes, he'd seen her upset over the last few weeks-but nothing like this. He didn't exactly know how to calm and upset girl. Usually at school, if one of the girls were upset, she'd be surrounded by her girlfriends to comfort her. He figured most of the time it was over a boy when they would cry. Why was she crying, though? Did he make her upset? If he did, how?

"Can I get you some water?" he asked her. He thought maybe it would help her calm down. "Or, I have hot chocolate-"

Astrid gave a small laugh suddenly as she wiped a streak of tears from her cheeks. "That-that sounds nice."

"Really?" he asked her, reaching for her hand. He worried she'd pull away but she didn't.

She nodded.

Giving it a small squeeze, he wondered into the kitchen. Quickly putting water in the kettle and turning it on, he reached for his phone, allowing himself to lean against the table for a moment as he looked through his text messages. For some reason, he felt as though he may have missed a message from her. Perhaps this would give him a clue as to why she was so upset. But, nothing. The last text he received from her was at 6:45, right before her shift started:

6:45 PM - I'LL BE OVER ONCE WORK IS OVER & I TAKE A SHOWER IF THAT IS ALL RIGHT. SEE YOU SOON OXOX.

He smiled slightly at the X's and O's part. Surely he hadn't done anything wrong if she sent that to him, right?

He hobbled into the living room again to check on her. She was still wrapped in the blanket, and through an opening she was wiping a few stray tears running down her chin. She seemed to have calmed herself a little bit.

"Anything else I can do?" he asked her when she made eye contact with him.

"No-" she said. She cleared her throat. "I'm all right."

"I-didn't do anything to upset you, did I?" Hiccup asked.

"No!" she said immediately.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?"

Nervously, she began to bite her lip. "Maybe in a bit?" Her voice quivered. The thought of whatever was bothering her still had it's hooks into her.

"I'll be right back," he said gently. Turning back towards the kitchen, he could tell the kettle still wasn't ready. Instead he prepared the mugs and poured the hot chocolate packets into the mugs. Then, set four marshmallows out for each of their bugs. Leaning over the counter, he tried to ease himself. Instead, he decided to go back to her math book and review the problem she had questions over.

A moment later, his ears caught the sound of the kettle starting to boil, and he poured the warm water into their mugs, added the marshmallows, and headed for the living room again. He found Astrid curled up in the blanket, her body leaning into the back of the couch. She perked up when she saw him coming. And, he noticed her eyes lingered down to his legs as she took the mug from his hand.

"No crutch today?"

He gave her a triumphant smile. "Amazing what a new leg can do." He'd only had his new extension for about a week, but since it was a more proper fit, he'd ditched the crutches in the evening for the most part. He was relying on them minimally.

Together they each took a sip of their warm drinks, and both feeling the effects of their warmth, seemed to ease up. Astrid leaned her head against his shoulder, and sighed.

"Better?" he asked. Although, he knew the answer.

"Yes."

Sharing a moment of silence they each took another sip of their hot chocolate. Hiccup used his spoon to swallow a soaked glob of white, allowing the warm sweetness to soak onto his tongue.

"There was an incident at the pool this evening," Astrid said gently.

"An incident?"

She nodded. "I-I had to stay late."

"What kind of incident?" Hiccup asked.

"Well-uh-"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Hiccup replied. "I just want you to be all right-you aren't hurt-" He suddenly felt the need to check her over, make sure she wasn't hurt herself. But, he stopped himself. After all, she was only in her one piece and a pair of shorts. Practically naked underneath the blanket.

"It-It just happened so quickly," Astrid breathed. "We'd just gotten done with lessons, and I was helping children out of the pool, taking off their flotation belts, telling them 'I'll see you next week' when I realized Jonah's parents were waiting for him. But I had no children on the deck. I-I scanned the pool. He'd somehow gotten his belt off in the pool, and bobbed out towards the deep end. He was underwater, bubbles coming up from the bottom when I saw it-"

Astrid paused, and shook her head, pushing the memory back a little bit.

"I went in after him. The guard on duty-Kel-hadn't noticed. He'd ended up talking to another patron at the office-" She shuddered again. "There were four certified guards in the aquatic area and NO ONE noticed this four year old bobbing out to the deep end!" She started crying again, only less violently than she had before. She composed herself again. "I had to do CPR-"

"Really?" Hiccup asked.

"I was on the second round of it, when he started coughing up water. The ambulance was already in route. I can't get his mother's screaming out of my head. He was practically blue-" She sobbed a little bit. "The ambulance took him to the hospital. A report was made. We looked at the cameras-"

"Is anyone in trouble?" Hiccup asked.

"Just Kel," Astrid said. "He was the guard on duty-he was responsible-" She swallowed hard. "I feel like it was my fault, though. I mean-his parents were standing there waiting for him to crawl out-and I didn't notice he wasn't on the pool deck with me-"

"Astrid-aren't there-like-two or three people in the water with those kids?"

"We have at most four-five kids per instructor," she said. "Things happen-I just didn't think it would happen when I was there-"

Hiccup sighed a little bit. He took another drink of his hot chocolate.

"Hiccup-"

"Yes?" he said.

"When you woke up-when-" She trailed off. "I'm sorry-it isn't my business-"

"It's all right, Astrid. You can ask me-"

Her bloodshot eyes met his, and she continued. "When you fell-what went through your mind?"

This wasn't what he was expecting her to ask. He thought she was going to ask him about when he woke up from surgery. Not from when he fell and damaged his leg. He took in a deep breath.

"I-I don't think I actually knocked myself out," Hiccup said.

"You didn't?"

"It wasn't like when the air bag hit you and you became unconscious," Hiccup said. "I-I fell-and, I instantly had pain in my leg-bad pain. I'd fallen-My dad heard me-Came out to me, called for help with my cell phone that I had in my pocket. When they came, they put a neck brace on me, thinking I did something to my back and neck. The worse part of the whole thing wasn't just the pain but being strapped down to a gurney and not being able to move. I felt-"

"Trapped," she finished for him. Suddenly, he felt her fingers run along the pink scar on his forearm. The one he received less than two months prior, when he'd been despite to get to her side. "That night-when you couldn't be there after-this-" She took in a shaky breath. "The worst part of it wasn't waking up after the accident. It was sitting strapped down to the gurney, forcing myself to keep calm in a small area with strangers trying to help me. Trying to keep me calm, forcing myself to stay calm-when all I wanted to do was scream and hope my Dad would be at the hospital when I got there."

Hiccup waited a moment. "Tonight brought the pain back, didn't it?"

Astrid nodded. "Not only that, but I keep putting myself in that little boy's position. Waking up with your parents screaming with worry. And, even though we revived him-that doesn't mean he's going to be all right-"

"Don't think like that," Hiccup said. "I'm sure you will know tomorrow how he's doing."

She nodded.

Suddenly, they heard the front door open again, somewhat startling them both. Although, Hiccup knew it was his father arriving home from work. He looked at his watch. It was well after nine. It was then that he wondered if Astrid's parents were worried where she was at. His father confirmed this.

Mr. Vast walked in looking a little rough for wear. His eye was half on, hanging loose around his neck. His hair was a mess. He'd probably been carding his fingers through it at the office most of the day. Hiccup knew he had a trial coming up, perhaps it started tomorrow. His eyes held dark circles under them.

"I received a call from you father about a half an hour ago," he said to Astrid after a moment. "He's been worried about you-said you hadn't made it home yet."

Hiccup turned to her. "Where's your phone."

Astrid shrugged her shoulders. "I-I haven't seen it since before work-maybe-maybe I forgot it-"

They heard the screen door open again, and close. A second later, Katherine walked in behind Mr. Vast.

"Well, at least we know she's safe," she said aloud.

"I'm all right," Astrid said. "But, it looks like I need to head home."

"I'll follow you," Katherine said to her. But, once she noticed the tears streaks on Astrid's cheeks, she changed her mind. "Better yet, I'll drive you home-Stoick can follow-"

"I'll drive her," Hiccup said, standing up. "If you guys can follow us so I can catch a ride back..." He trailed off. The plan was set.

Astrid had left her phone in the dash of the car. There were half a dozen missed calls from both her mother and father on the phone. When they couldn't reach her, they'd called Mr. Vast. Afterall, their fathers knew each other from court cases.

"Looks like I'm gonna need your cell phone number, Hiccup," Mr. Hofferson said to him gently as Astrid walked through the doorway. Hiccup thought perhaps her father was upset at him, but quickly realized he wasn't. "She gave us a scare tonight."

"I didn't mean to," Astrid said to her father.

"I know you didn't, A. Now go upstairs and take a hot shower. You'll feel better-"

And with that Astrid headed up the stairs, giving Hiccup a wave goodbye. There wouldn't be a hug or a kiss shared between the two this evening, especially with the folks around.

"Her boss, Mack, called me an hour ago letting me know what had happened," Mr. Hofferson said. "And we were worried when she didn't answer. Figured he headed your way-"

"Sir, you knew she was supposed to come over tonight, weren't you?" Hiccup asked. "I mean-she asked me to look over her math-"

"Yes," Mr. Hofferson said to him, giving him a kind smile. "I just didn't know how to reach you-"

At home, it was nearing ten-thirty by the time Hiccup was able to gather up his school belongings for the next day. He'd found Astrid's left-behind math homework and book. Luckily, she'd completed it all. He could give it to her tomorrow. Taking it upon himself, he reviewed her math homework again, taking a seat at the table to do so. She'd lightly circled three other problems she was worried about. The erase marks on the paper showed this. Again, Hiccup found no errors.

"Shouldn't you head to bed?" his father's booming voice said suddenly. This caused Hiccup to jump.

"I-almost-" he replied. "Just getting things gathered up."

"You all right, son?" Mr. Vast asked him.

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, just-tired."

Mr. Vast nodded. "I'm sure you are. Long few hours-"

"Are you going to bed, Dad?" Hiccup asked him.

"Eh-" Mr. Vast began. "I have a trial in the morning-"

"All the more reason to head to bed-"

"I will soon, kiddo."

Hiccup nodded, then took to stand, gripping the kitchen chair for support. His leg was stiff. He hadn't taken the prosthetic off since seven that morning.

"I'm not used to this yet," he replied, noticing his father eyeing him.

"Not bad, is it?"

Shaking his head in response, he gave a weak smile. "No. Just need to get this thing off and get to sleep."

Mr. Vast nodded, and watched Hiccup head towards the hallway. Then-

"Hiccup-"

He turned back to his father, holding Astrid's school book to his side.

"She's good for you. I hope you know that," his father said gently.

"I'm well aware, Dad," Hiccup said with a smile.

...

**This pool incident did not happen where I work. This was totally made up based off of scenarios I've heard of. **

**I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot. If you haven't read "Morals" yet, to better understand this one-shot you may want to check that one out. If you have read "Morals" hopefully you will understand this chapter better.**

**Thank you!**


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